The Walking Dead
by JillianAndKate
Summary: The zombie apocalypse has left rich kids Diamond, Dalton, and Sloane alone in the Colorado wilderness. Instincts and each other are all the teens have to survive.
1. Chapter 1

Diamond Sylvia Gold sat in her private jet, her French manicured fingers flipping through her Cosmo magazine. She had a virgin daiquiri in front of her, and her diamond encrusted phone next to it. She was dressed casually for the flight, in a Temperley London primrose floral dress and her Giuseppe Zanotti black heeled sandals. Her Burberry trenchcoat sat on the seat next to her, along with her clutch. A fourteen carrot white gold and diamond pendant sat on her throat, a gift from her mother.

The only other people on the plane were her brother and friend Sloane. Dalton was her twin, and he sat casually ahead of her, jamming to his music. Sloane sat directly across from her, her black manicured nails flipping through a Vogue magazine. Sloane's dad worked with Diamond's in the Senate, so they had been friends at a young age. Her mother was the French ambassador, and was also a descendant of the Kennedys.

Diamond's mother, however, was not in politics. She owned her own line of famous jewelry, the Gold Collection. The pendant Diamond wore was one of her mother's designs, made specifically for her. She was named after her mother's three favorite materials - diamonds, silver, and gold. Her mother's sister, Aunt Gretchen, was a popular clothing designer. She was always sending Diamond designer clothes and asking her to be her model - she was perfect for it; with her tall, slim figure, marvelous bone structure, pale blonde hair, and light blue eyes.

She sighed, having reached the end of her Cosmo. She got up and tapped her twin's shoulder. "Where are we?"

"I think we just got into Colorado." He put his headphones in, a clear dismissal.

She pursed her lips, returning to her seat reluctantly. They were making the trip from New York to California on vacation, and she was excruciatingly bored. "Trade?" Sloane asked, handing out her Vogue.

Diamond smiled. "You're a lifesaver." Sloane was the only friend Diamond had that she genuinely liked. She had a large clique, of course, full of celebrities, models, and other rich kids, of course. But most of them were fake bitches, and she didn't need to waste her precious time on their problems when she could be out getting a Mani Pedi.

She scrolled through the pages of Vogue, dreaming of the day when her face would be on the cover. She looked over at Sloane, who was holding hands with Dalton, sitting right in front of her. She grimaced, she couldn't help being disgusted by the best-friend-and-brother situation. Sloane and Dalton had despised each other up until a couple months ago, when something Diamond tried not to think about happened at a party. Diamond personally thought they were a horrible couple, but she tried to be supportive.

Tired of having nothing to do but watch the nasty scene beside her, she got up and headed to the front of the plane. She stepped in through the curtain, and instantly grinned. Why hadn't she come up here before? The pilot was young - and cute. She went instantly into flirtation mode. "Hey," she said huskily. "So, how long do we have to go?" She sat down on the empty co-pilot's seat.

The captain didn't look her way. "Still aways, Miss. Maybe you should go back to your seat."

She didn't give up. "But I want to talk to you."

He glanced over, and she saw his eyes widen before he returned his gaze to the sky. "Miss Gold -"

She cut of his dismissing tone. "Oh, please, call me Diamond - or even Di. So tell me, how does a young guy like you become such a skilled pilot?"

"Um," he looked flustered. "I mean, I just graduated from flight school..."

"You must have been really good," she insisted.

"I don't really..." He shook his head as if to clear it. "Miss, you have to return to your seat. Now."

Diamond pouted, but could see that he wasn't going to change his mind. With a sigh, she left and collapsed back into her seat. The constant vacations and flights were making them that much more tedious. She grabbed her phone, deciding to text her father. She groaned, and Sloane looked over. "What's up, Di?"

Diamond held up her iPhone. "No fucking service." She looked out the window, plopping her head on her hand. "Whoa, wait," she said more loudly. "Are we getting closer to the ground? Dalton?"

Her brother looked at her, concerned. She and Sloane followed as he made his way up to the front. "Hey," he demanded of the cute captain. "Why are we descending?"

"Calm down," the pilot said reasonably. "I'm not getting a radio signal."

Diamond wasn't sure what that meant, but Dalton freaked out. "Calm down? What the hell are you doing?"

"We're going to land, _sir,_ " the captain snapped. "Now all of you sit down or prepare for the landing." He pointed to the small runway located in a big field. They could see people walking around close to it, wearing pilot uniforms and security clothes.

Dalton stubbornly sat down in the copilot's seat, so Diamond and Sloane stood in the back as the pilot pulled the plane. It was pretty bumpy, so Diamond was relieved when the plane began its drive down the runway.

When finally they had come to a complete stop, the pilot got up irritatedly. "Come on. You guys can sit inside while I see if I can get ahold of someone from here." He reached out and pulled open the door.

Before Diamond even knew what was happening, Sloane let out an ear piercing scream. She looked around wildly, and saw that a group of the security officers and pilots were standing at the door. Except...they weren't officers or pilots. They weren't even human. Their skin sagged and was a dull gray color, their eyes glossed over. They snapped their blackened jaws, letting out gutteral snarls.

Diamond joined Sloane's screaming as the things grabbed hold of the pilot, and pulled him to them. The first one close enough latched its teeth into his arm, tearing and digging into it. Like a car crash, it was sickening, and yet she couldn't look away. Dalton, with a flash of adrenaline, shot forward and slammed the door shut.

Sloane's back slammed into the hard wall of the airplane. She looked at her hands, the usually tan skin was pale and she was shaking uncontrollably. What the hell had she just seen?

"What the..." Di's voice trailed off and she crumpled to the ground.

Sloane ignored her friend as Dalton pulled her up. She pushed the sliding shade up from the window, earlier Sloane had put them all down, complaining she was hot. What ever the things were outside were swarmed everywhere, all over the runway that was scattered with planes.

"What is going on?" she gasped, her throat beginning to close up in panic.

"Calm down," Dalton said gruffly as he forced Di into a sitting position. "It has to be a prank."

"I don't think so," she said warily, gazing at the puddle of blood that was seeping around the feet of the gathering of creatures, presumably from the captain.

"I say we kill ourselves," Sloane muttered.

"I don't even know what to think," Dalton said in exasperation.

"We can't stay in here forever," Sloane pointed out. The things were scratching at the door and windows, moaning in a horrible way.

"Where the fuck are we supposed to go?" Dalton snapped.

"Stop being such an ass!" Sloane countered. "I'm not sitting around in here, waiting to die."

She slammed open the door to the mini fridge and pulled out all the meat she could find. It didn't amount to much, just some caviar, a stack of lunch meat, and the remains of the filet Dalton had insisted on bringing. "Catch you on the flip side."

"Wait!" Dalton said just as she was about to open the door. "You don't have any supplies."

"For what?" Sloane put her free hand on her hip. "I'm finding someone and they are taking me home."

Sloane could picture it now, lying on the sandy beach at the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port. Her mother, RFK's granddaughter, had full access to the luxurious getaway, and Sloane always had an amazing time with her cousins and family on their yacht. The Buchanan's had multiple homes, one in New York, one in DC, and one in Calabasas, but her favorite place to spend time was the amazing sprawl on the Massachusetts coastline.

"I don't think their is anyone who can," Dalton said grimly.

"Oh, shut up. This can't be real, and if it is do you think everyone got this in the 10 hours we were in the air?" Sloane inquired.

"Yeah, I do actually. And how will you get past them?" Dalton asked. He pointed to her wine colored J Mendel maxi skirt, Chanel gladiators, and black boatneck.

"Shit!" All the bags were under the plane and there was no way she would have enough time to get to other clothes. Sloane furrowed her eye brows before yanking down her skirt, leaving her in just black lace underwear. Half her butt hung out, but with bare feet and legs she was sure she could outrun the seemingly slow creatures.

"Are you two coming or not?" Sloane asked, waving in the direction of Di, who was beginning to stir.

"I'm scared," Di whimpered.

"Don't worry, you'll be safe with me," Dalton said softly, earning a gag from Sloane.

"Why don't you two get a room and I'll be on my way."

Dalton rolled his eyes. "Sloane, please, wait for us."

Sloane looked out the window while Dalton gathered Di. Her thoughts ran wild. Why had this happened? She had always laughed with her friends about what would happen if zombies were real, and Sloane had always come to the conclusion she would shoot herself. Unfortunately, there were no guns on board, one of her father's rules. So, Sloane would have to stick it out.

"Let's go," Dalton's voice sounded, clearing the deep fog of her thoughts. He had a lamp in one hand and Di's arm in the other.

"You lead the way," she insisted as the trio stood timidly by the door.

"No way, Hitler. You're the boss here, and the leader."

"Shut up, Dalton, you have the only weapon."

Her boyfriend thrust the lamp into her hand. Sloane shivered and glared at him. "Fine, I hope I die right in front of you."

She thought she heard him mutter _So do I,_ but his snippy remark was cut off as she swung open the plane door.

The creatures were moaning and staggering around, distracted by the mangled body of the pilot. Sloane swallowed down a gag and flung the meat she held in her hand away from the plane, earning the straggler's attention.

She swung as hard as she could at a middle aged woman's head. Her brown hair was limp and caked with blood. Her eyes were bloodshot, and a chunk of meat was stuck in between her rotting teeth. The lamp caused the whole top of her head to crumple and slide off, and another shot had the woman laying on the ground, motionless.

Sloane screeched in disgust and sprinted across the open runway field. Planes were scattered randomly and the creatures could be seen slamming their dead bodies up against the small plane windows.

Her eyes locked in in the pine forest in front of her, Sloane sprinted as fast as possible. She could feel her butt jiggling in her underwear, but she didn't have the time to care.

The sound of the creatures moans was fading and she and the twins made it to the forest line. Sloane leaned against a tree and gasped for breath. She wasn't especially athletic, just doing Pilates with her personal trainer to keep up her perfect figure.

"Now what?" Di panted.


	2. Chapter 2

Dalton's arm was the only thing keeping Diamond on her feet, especially with her heels. She tried not to look at the walkers, because they made her want to vomit. Sloane, incredibly, was leading the way away from the creatures, towards what looked like a forest. Diamond grimaced - she didn't particularly like the wilderness.

Once they were concealed by a few trees and some shrubbery, Diamond made them stop so she could catch her breath. She had thirteen years of dance experience, but running was not her specialty. "We - have - to - go - back," she panted.

"Are you insane?" Sloane snapped.

Diamond narrowed her eyes. "No. I'm in heels, and your ass is hanging out. We need some decent clothes."

Dalton put his hand on her shoulder. "Di, come on, there's no way we can go back. The only way we got out of there was because they were eating our pilot."

Diamond was thinking of a good comeback when she heard a snapping noise. "What was that?" she hissed, just as a big figure popped out from the trees. She opened her mouth to scream, but was stopped by Dalton's hand.

The figure let out a gasp. "Whoa! Sorry, I didn't see y'all there. Man, am I glad to see some actual people 'round here." The voice was a young male, with an obvious Southern twang.

Diamond looked up, and her breath caught. Never had she ever thought of ending up with a country boy, but this guy was gorgeous! He was tall and muscular, but not too brawny. His hair was dark and slightly longer than usual, and his eyes were a bright, hypnotic blue. He wore jeans, boots, and a plane brown T-shirt, all smudged in dirt. His face had a splash of dirt across its perfect features as well, but, somehow, Diamond found it even cuter.

"Who are you?" Dalton demanded. Diamond glanced at her twin sharply.

"I'm Ellis, its nice to meet ya. Who are y'all?"

"Diamond Sylvia Gold!" Diamond exclaimed. "But you can call me Di." She gave him a wink, and he grinned.

"Sloane," her friend said beside her, looking bored.

Ellis turned her way, but quickly moved his gaze. Diamond suspected it was her lack of clothing. They all looked expectantly at Dalton, but he just glared stubbornly. "That's my stupid twin brother, Dalton," Diamond intervened. "He hasn't quite mastered the concept of 'manners' yet."

"No worries," Ellis said cheerfully. "Where did y'all come from?"

"That airport."

"The hangar?"

"Uh, sure," Diamond didn't know the terminology.

"Is it safe? Any of the zombies over there?"

"You know about them, too?"

Ellis nodded, looking grim for the first time. "It was just all of a sudden. All day today, you know? People just started eating each other. I first saw cousin Larry chomping on Susan."

Dalton was rolling his eyes, but Diamond hung on his every word. "Whoa. Did you see people all over town turn?"

He shook his head. "Nah, the town's about a mile away from our farm."

"Farm?" Dalton asked, speaking for the first time.

"Yeah, of course. Where else would we keep the horses and chickens and -"

"Can we come? Is it safe?"

Ellis grinned. "Of course! Sure y'all can come. We got a group stayin' there for now, all the townsfolk. We got my Uncle Ed, Sandra, Emma -"

"Yeah, we get it," Dalton interrupted. "So what're you doing out here?"

"I gotta get fuel for the fires."

"Wait," Diamond said, "You're going to go in there, with all the walkers?"

He shrugged. "Yeah. The group's counting on me." He pulled out a bat, holding it up on his shoulder.

"You've got a gun right there!" Dalton said in exasperation.

Ellis remained calm and friendly. "The sound just attracts more of 'em. You gotta do it real quiet."

"We'll come with you!" Diamond offered.

"What?" Dalton and Sloane said simultaneously.

"No offense, little lady, but you'd probably just be in my way."

"We _have_ to go," Diamond insisted. "We have to get our bags. I need pants and proper shoes, and Sloane needs...well, something."

Sloane looked down at herself with a shrug. Ellis looked reluctant. "Uh, okay, I guess. Do you need weapons?"

"We don't have anything."

"Alright," Ellis said, "Here's the plan. I give Dalton there this," he handed over a crowbar, "And he covers Sloane. I'll make sure Di is safe."

Dalton narrowed his eyes. "I don't think -"

"Perfect plan!" Diamond exclaimed, elbowing her brother in the ribs. "Let's do it."

"Alright. Di goes first, with me behind her. Then Dalton and Sloane."

Diamond and Sloane nodded, but Dalton just crossed his arms and glared. They took his silence as agreement. "What plane is it?" Ellis asked.

"The one in the front," Sloane said. "With that cluster of creatures at the top."

Ellis nodded. "Okay. Here goes nothing."

Diamond went out first, frightened, but wanting to prove herself. She tip-toed out, sneaking her way to the first plane and pressing up against the side. Ellis, Sloane, and Dalton followed closely, and Ellis nodded towards the next plane in front of them. It was theirs, so close to them. Diamond took a hesitant step forward, and almost ran into a zombie rounding the corner. She opened her mouth to scream, but Ellis was already on it. He covered her mouth with his left hand, and smashed the creature's head with the bat in his right hand.

"You okay?" he whispered in her ear. She nodded, and he let her go. "You think you can make it? After you get there, I think it will be safe for me to open the hatch for you."

She nodded again, and streaked across the empty ground with the speed and softness of the ballerina she was. Just like he said, Ellis was right behind her, and he lifted the hatch quickly. "You and Sloane get your stuff," he directed. "We'll take watch."

"You can't take the whole suitcase," Dalton informed the girls. "Find the biggest purse you have, and fill that up. If you can, Di, find my backpack and get me some clothes."

Diamond gave him a reassuring smile and climbed into the hatch after Sloane. She first filled her brother's bag, and filled that. Then she went through her giant suitcase, picking out the large black purse she had. She filled it with an outfit of a dress and heels she simply couldn't live without, and then all her designer pants, shorts and jeans she brought. She added the most flexible shirts she could find, and her feminine products, shower items, and makeup. If she was going to survive the zombie apocalypse, she would look hot as fuck doing it.

She saw Sloane pulling on pants, and decided to follow her lead. She zipped off her dress and put an outfit over her Victoria's secret lace bra and panties. She slipped on Alexander McQueen stretch-leather pants and a dark blue Burberry strapless peplum top. She added a pair of flat shoes she had with her - Chanel gladiator chain sandals. She threw the purse over her shoulder, and lugged up Dalton's backpack. "You ready?"

Sloane nodded, her own purse stuffed to the top. The started down the hatch, but froze when they saw the three walkers straggling up towards them. "Guys!" Diamond called nervously. There was no answer. "Dalton!" she screamed, "Ellis!"

The zombies continued up toward them.

Sloane slung her two purses over her shoulders and gripped a crowbar-like item that she found under a seat. "We have to go, now!" she barked.

Diamond clung to her back as she ran into the crowd of zombies, walkers, as Ellis called them. She smashed heads as Ellis had instructed and forced her way towards the hangar. The large metal dome looked like a safe haven and Sloane couldn't get their fast enough. She and Di slammed closed the sliding door and gasped for breath.

"Did you see the boys?" Di asked.

Sloane shook her head. "Lets just keep going with the plan, I'm sure they're fine."

Sloane searched for the red cans of fuel Ellis had explained. "Over here!" she called to Di.

Her blonde friend smiled brightly and started pouring the fuel all over the concrete floor. Sloane found an oil stained jacket with a Bic lighter in the pocket and tossed it between her hands while sucking on her plump bottom lip. A roll of blue paper towels caught her eye and she weighed them in her hands.

"Do you have Ellis's fuel?" she asked.

"Right here," Di exclaimed. Sloane got a feeling she liked the hillbilly boy, who had such a strong accent even though it seemed he lived in Colorado.

"Okay, let's get out of here," Sloane ordered. She slid open the main door to the hangar and ran to meet Di at the emergency exit in the back. It led up to the woods, a perfect escape. Multiple airplanes were parked in the hangar, and the thought of their huge fuel tanks catching fire sent shivers down her spine. Who knew what the explosion would be like.

"You cover me, hit any of them in the head and run as fast as you can," Sloane whispered.

"Okay, be careful," Di responded, gripping the crowbar.

Sloane lit the roll of paper towels with her lighter. The soft blue paper slowly singed before the whole role was engulfed in flames. She could see the walkers pouring in through the hangar door, attracted by her loud screams. Sloane rested the flaming roll on the small puddle of fuel. It immediately burst into flames, making her jump back and push Di into the woods.

"Run!" she hissed. The branches whipped by her head and leaves were thrown up in their wake. Sloane didn't even look back, she was terrified of what the blast would be like.

Sloane and Di jumped over a log in their rush to get away. She regretted the decision as her feet scrambled in the air, not meeting the earth. Her legs jolted as she slammed onto the ground at the base of the steep drop and she rolled in the thick, musty leaves.

Her breath knocked out of her, Sloane managed to pull herself up into a sitting position. "Di?" she gasped.

"Shouldn't it have ex-"

The two girls ducked as an enormous blast filled their ears. A gust of wind followed, and Sloane was assaulted by a loud ringing in her ears.

Di looked at her with wide eyes and it looked as though her lips were asking about the boys, but Sloane couldn't hear anything.

Sound began to slowly come back and Di's words made it to Sloane's brain. "... I don't know why they never came back!" she cried.

"Maybe they-"

"Are y'all girls okay?" a country voice asked.

Sloane looked up to see Ellis and Dalton panting roughly.

"You made it!" Di cried, jumping to her feet and pulling the boys into a hug. "I- we were so worried!"

Dalton pulled away from his twin and drug Sloane to her feet. "Did you two get anything good?"

Sloane shrugged, "I got some clothes and jewelry I can't live without. And all my toiletries. We couldn't find out phones, though."

"Dammit," Dalton cursed, slamming his fist into a tree. "What the fuck are we supposed to do with no phones?"

"I can take y'all back to the farm," Ellis offered.

"That would be amazing," Diamond gushed.

"Can you please shut up before I puke?" Sloane whined. Her friend needed to give it a rest.

"We got a little off track," Ellis continued. "but I think I can find it."

"Great," Dalton grumbled.

Sloane scowled at her boyfriend. After just about an hour, he was driving her insane. "Lets go, it should be getting dark soon."

"Right this way," Ellis directed.

The foursome trudged along through the thick forest. Sloane had found a nice black and white blouse, black leggings, flats, a studded headband to keep her hair out of her face, and one of her favorite pair of sunglasses to shield the bright setting sun from her eyes. She wished that she had some work out clothes, but Sloane had been on work out strike and didn't bring any clothes on the trip.

"Are we almost there?" Diamond asked tentatively.

"Should be up round here," Ellis said gruffly.

"How do we know you aren't going to murder us and let your back wood mutant cousins eat us?" Dalton questioned.

"My family is actually really nice," Ellis said quietly.

Diamond shot Dalton a look and talked quickly and quietly to Ellis with a soft look in her eyes.

"Can you stop being such an ass?" Sloane snapped at Dalton.

"What? Like you haven't thought the same thing."

"No, I haven't, I'm a little more concerned about the fucking zombies roaming the woods." Sloane took a side step to distance her and Dalton. "You are literally so rude."

"Come on, baby," Dalton sighed. "Don't be like that, I'm sorry."

Sloane rolled her eyes and grabbed Dalton's hand, and stopped dead in her tracks. "Oh my god."


	3. Chapter 3

As the group neared the farm, they began to see what it looked like. She heard Sloane mutter behind her, "Oh, my God."

"Its hillbilly central!" Dalton agreed.

Diamond shot glares at the both of them, and shut them up. She thought the farm was nice. The house was big and white, and a red barn sat behind it. Fences were set up across the yards of land, And she saw the silhouettes of animals grazing. They approached the tall fence that encircled the front yard, and Ellis stopped in his tracks, making Diamond almost run into him. "What's wrong?"

"The gate," he said slowly. "Someone left it open."

Diamond looked at it, pushed all the way to the side. "Do you think...?" At that moment, she heard a terrified scream from inside. Before she could react, Ellis was sprinting inside. Dalton went after him, and with a glance at Sloane, they followed, snapping the gate closed behind them.

Diamond wanted to scream at the sight before her, but she didn't have the strength. There were walkers everywhere, digging in to people - well, more like bodies. The lady who had screamed was now gurgling on her own blood. Ellis had out his gun, and was shooting every zombie he could see. Diamond lifted her crowbar protectively, but they were all going down one by one. Ellis was good.

Diamond grabbed Sloane, and they sunk to the side as Ellis and Dalton dealt with the walkers. When Ellis collapsed nest to a man's body, Diamond rushed over, sinking to her knees next to him. "Are - are you okay?" she regretted it as soon as she asked it. What a stupid question.

"Everyone," he whispered. "I thought they were safe. I thought..." he broke down. Even Dalton looked sympathetic. "This is my uncle. Uncle Ed."

Diamond looked down at the man tearfully, seeing his kind face and wispy white hair. "Your parents?"

He shook his head. "They died when I was eight. Ed raised me. He was all I had left."

Diamond bit her lip, not knowing what to say to him. "I -"

He interrupted her, not unkindly. "If you don't mind, could I have a second?"

"Of course." She got up, taking one regretful glance at him before rejoining Sloane.

"Poor guy," Sloane said, sounding truly genuine.

Diamond was about to nod, when a whimper came from the tool shed they stood next to. Sloane jumped, and grabbed the crowbar from Diamond's hand. "Open it," she said. "I'll get the bastard."

"No!" Diamond disagreed, holding up her hand. "I don't think its a walker."

"What?"

Diamond reached her hand out to the door handle. She was sure the whimpers didn't sound like the groaning of the zombies - they sounded like crying. She opened the door wide, to reveal a small girl. She looked up, with a soft cry. Her big brown eyes looked around, but they were odd. She seemed not to be looking at Diamond. It didn't seem like she was looking at anything. She feared for a moment that Sloane was right. But finally, Diamond understood.

The girl was blind.

"Its okay," she said gently. "We won't hurt you. We aren't the creatures."

The girl relaxed some, but still seemed afraid. "Who - who are you?" her voice was high and light, and had a twang that made it even more adorable.

"My name is Diamond, and my friend is Sloane. We're here with -"

She was cut off. "Willie Mae?"

The girl moved her head around. "Ellis?"

Ellis came running over, picking the girl up and swinging her over his head. "You're alright," he breathed. He wrapped her in a big bear hug. "How did you survive?"

Willie Mae's lip trembled. "Daddy. He put me in the closet. I didn't know what was going on, Ellis - but I heard terrible things."

Ellis hugged her. "Its alright. You're fine now."

She let out a loud sob. "But its my fault! I heard Daddy say someone left the gate open. I think it was me, Ellis!"

Ellis froze for a moment, before comforting her again. "Its fine, Mae. Its not your fault." He looked up at Diamond. "Would you mind taking my cousin up to the house?" Oh. So...Uncle Ed must be her father. Its getting late. You and Sloane can get ready for bed. Dalton and I can deal with the walkers...and my family and friends."

"Like bury them?"

Ellis grimaced...and looked down. "Yeah. And we...we have to shoot 'em. Make sure they don't come back."

Diamond gulped. She held her hand out. "Uh, Willie Mae? You want to come with me and Sloane? We can tuck you in."

Willie Mae smiled tentatively. "Okay." She held her hand out searchingly, and Diamond grabbed on. She'd always wanted a little sister.

"Good night," Diamond said softly, pushing the covers over Willie Mae's little body after she got her in her nightgown.

"Night," Willie Mae yawned.

Diamond and Sloane showered, changed, and climbed into twin beds in a guest room Ellis showed them. As Sloane clicked off the lamp, Diamond spoke softly, "Do you think we'll be able to stay here?"

Sloane sighed. "I know its nice here, Di...but don't get too used to it."

Diamond brushed out her hair, and did her best to put on her makeup. She had on a light pink flare tulle skirt pulled over a white short sleeved cashmere jumper. She slipped on white heeled sandals, and looked at Sloane, looking like Sleeping Beauty. She snorted. "Wake up!" Sloane jolted awake, and shot her a glare.

Laughing, Diamond made her way downstairs, into the kitchen. She stopped in surprise when she saw Willie Mae, sitting at the table. "Oh, good morning."

"Diamond?"

She blinked. The little girl remembered the sound of her voice. "Yeah. How'd you get down here?"

"Ellis. He's outside."

"Do you...uh, need anything?"

Willie Mae shook her head. "Nope. I think that boy was looking for you. Outside, with Ellis."

"Thanks." She walked out the front door, and saw that all the bodies were gone. But there was something even more shocking. At the fence, a line of creatures were banging and moaning. The fence was pushing forward, bending precariously.

"Shit!"

"Come on y'all, we gotta get out now."

Sloane gawked in horror at the slow, moaning walkers ramming into the bulging wire fence. The posts were beginning to bend down precariously.

"I'll get Willie Mae!" Di cried. Sloane had never seen the girl act like a good mother-figure her whole life. She was always too busy staring at her rings.

Sloane ran up the stairs of the farm house after Di and managed to throw all of her belonging in one of her purses before meeting the boys outside. She went to stand by Dalton and watched as Ellis led two horses out of a run down barn.

"Diamond!" Ellis called to the girl who was just emerging from the porch with her bags on one arm and Willie Mae on the other. "You and Mae ride Bessie! We can put our things on Dannie!"

Once Diamond was holding onto Mae securely on Bessie's back and their bags were tied down to Dannie's, the five-some took off through a back fence into the woods. Sloane noticed Ellis glance over his back a few times to look longingly at his home, but nothing was said.

"So we are never going back?" Sloane questioned cautiously.

Ellis shook his head. "Nah, they know that living beings live there and they won't let up. We wouldn't have been able to repair that fence."

Sloane wanted to ask where they were heading, but she refrained.

"Is there a town around here?" Dalton asked.

"Nope, we live at least 30 miles out from the nearest town and it's nothing much."

Sloane looked up at Dalton who rolled his eyes. She still held his hand tightly, she was terrified, but lately she could feel herself growing apart from him. One night at a wild party had grown their relationship out of what had been pure hatred. Sloane figured she never saw it working out.

"I reckon we will set up camp nightly and keep moving. Eventually we'll run across another human or two," Ellis trudged along, pulling two leather straps attached to his horses.

"Ellis, where's everyone? All the neighbors?" Mae stared blindly into the distance with her little eyebrows knotted together.

"Mae, you know that it's a long way to all of their houses, and I'm sure they are all... sick." Ellis stared at the ground.

"Don't worry, we will find someone and work things out," Di encouraged.

Sloane irritatedly waved at the bugs swarming her face. The sun was beginning to beat on their backs directly overhead and Sloane regretted her clothing choices. She had packed for a glamorous vacation in LA, not a damn jungle trek. Her black peplum top was hot, tight, and left her shoulders bare to burn. Her black and white striped shorts weren't too bad, but her black strappy sandals were already beginning to kill her feet.

"Ellis, I wanna go home," Mae whimpered.

"Sh, sh," Di soothed.

In the new silence, Sloane's hair stood on end. She heard a distant groaning that distinctly belonged to a walker.

"Come on, lets knock him out." Ellis looked to Dalton.

"I'm kind of tired," Dalton started.

Sloane sighed and snatched the crowbar from his hand. "I'll fucking do it."

"Sloane-" She cut her boyfriend off with a middle finger and jogged to follow Ellis.

"I'll distract him and you knock him out."

Sloane nodded and gripped the cold metal tightly. Her palms were sweaty and her stomach was tying and untying in knots. Even though she had killed a few walkers, she was still extremely nervous.

Ellis stopped her behind a large tree. They both peeked out from behind the rough bark. A man in a flannel shirt was dragging a severely broken leg across the ground. He was moaning lowly and a wound on his neck was gory and festering.

Ellis held up a hand and counted down with his fingers. _Three, two, one._ Ellis ran out and started screaming, immediately grabbing the walker's attention. Sloane jumped out and swung the crowbar like a tennis racquet, spraying brains across a large tree covered in vines.

"Great job!" Ellis commended. "You're a natural."

Sloane smiled and turned to catch up with the group. She nearly jumped out of her skin when a hand reached out of the leaf litter and grabbed her ankle. In a second, she had the crowbar raised, ready to smash the walker's head.

Her eyebrows raised when the skin that should have been rotting and gray seemed to be smooth and simply covered in mud. She let out a soft shriek when a face raised up out of the leaves.

"What happened?" Ellis gasped, bursting out of the trees.

"Look!"

The person emerging from the layer of leaves rubbed their eyes. "Sorry to scare you."

Sloane squatted down. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," the voice was deep and belonged to a male. "You just saved me, that thing definitely smelled me."

"Let me help you up." Sloane and Ellis brushed away the thick layer of leaves to reveal a mud covered boy, who appeared to be around their age.

"Thank you," he said. As Sloane reached her arms under his back to pull him up he grimaced in pain.

"What's going on over here?" Dalton's voice called. He emerged with the horses and the girls. "Who's this?"

"Henry Lancaster," the boy introduced himself. "I'm not from around here so I have no idea what the fuck is going on."

"Same with us. I'm Sloane Buchanan." Sloane took in the mud-caked boy. "I'll help you get cleaned up."

"I saw a stream down yonder, we should probably set up camp for the night," Ellis said.

"Dalton, give me some of your clothes," Sloane requested.

Her boyfriend frowned. "But-"

Di snatched a blue checked button up and khaki shorts from her brother's bag and tossed them to Sloane. Dalton scowled but didn't say anything.

Sloane helped the boy limp down to the stream Ellis had talked about. "So where are you from?" Sloane asked.

"I'm from Chicago, I live there with my parents. I was out here skiing at one of the lodges up in the mountains with my aunt and uncle when all the power shut off and the emergency sirens went off. We had no idea what was going on so we just got in the car and started driving, fast. Eventually my uncle lost control of the car and we crashed. I woke up on the side of the road and the things were..." he trailed off. "They were eating them. I managed to get away but I think the glass cut my stomach pretty badly. I just rolled in mud and covered myself in leaves cause I couldn't walk anymore. Then you came." He smiled, revealing white teeth.

"I'm sorry about your family." She pulled his shirt over his head while he held his hand over his stomach. "Why don't you go rinse off and I'll try to find something for your cut."

Henry staggered a few steps, and Sloane realized she was going to have to help him. "Come here." She pulled off his tattered shorts and decided to leave on his boxers, her tan cheeks flushing. Sloane could only wonder what Dalton would think.

She walked into the water knee deep and bent down to wash the mud off of Henry, which was basically ever inch except for his eyes and mouth. She slowly began to reveal tan skin, toned muscles, a gorgeous face, and dark brown hair. His good looks only increased the awkwardness.

"Um, okay, let's see." She examined the cut on his stomach. It wasn't deep, but looked infected. "I think I have some Neosporin in my makeup bag. I think you'll live."

She flashed a nervous smile and avoided looking down at his soaking underwear. "You can get dressed and I'll wait behind this tree."

Henry smiled. "Thanks a lot, Sloane. You're amazing."

She didn't know if it was the rush of saving him or something else, but Sloane's stomach was filled with butterflies.


End file.
